Mercer White Oak was a historic tree at Princeton Battlefield Park that stood tall amidst the park's rolling hills and lush fields. The tree was named after General Hugh Mercer, who died from wounds he received at the Battle of Princeton during the American Revolution. The tree became a symbol of the battle and a testament to the bravery of the American soldiers who fought there. The tree was one of the largest and oldest white oaks in the state of New Jersey, with a massive trunk and sprawling branches that provided shade for visitors to the park. The Mercer White Oak was not only a natural landmark but also a crucial part of the park's rich history, serving as a reminder of the sacrifices made during the American Revolution.
The Mercer White Oak tree was about 300 years old when strong winds ripped it apart in March 2000. Soon after the tree's death, an arborist planted an 8-foot sapling from a Mercer Oak acorn inside the former tree's stump. That fenced-in young oak tree is the one that is seen in Princeton Battlefield Park today.
On this misty, foggy day, the tree takes on an ethereal quality, shrouded in a mysterious veil of white. The fog seems to wrap around the trunk and branches of the tree, adding to its already stately presence.
This is one of several frames from one of the four cartridges of Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow 400 35mm film I bought last year. The film was developed in Tennessee at Boutique Film Labs and scanned at home using an Epson Perfection V600 and VueScan software. The negatives were converted as part of my workflow using Negative Lab Pro.
Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow 400 is a 35mm black and white film with an ISO rating of 400. It is a high-speed, versatile film used in various lighting conditions, from bright sun to low light. The film is manufactured by the UK-based company Kosmo Foto. It produces sharp, detailed images with good tonal range and minimal grain. It is suitable for indoor and outdoor photography. It can be used for various subjects, including portraits, street, and landscape photography. The film is also reported to have a wide exposure latitude and good shadow detail. Some users claim it produces the same or better results than Ilford HP5 Plus and Kodak Tri-X.
The 13 frames below were captured with Kosmot Foto Agent Shadow 35mm film at ISO 400 using a Pentax P3n camera and SMC Pentax-A 50mm F2 lens. But I have a secret. All of the images were edited in Adobe Lightroom. I know that some photographers believe (yes, this is about religion) that manipulating a photograph in any way is "cheating" and implies a lack of skill. I call bullshit on this way of thinking.
The fact is that cameras do not see the same way that human beings see. The camera and lens and recording medium (film or digital) cannot capture any subject or scene in the same way the human optical system (a combination of our eyes and brains) witnesses the world. Our brains and eyes have evolved over millions of years to create a perception of the visual world that is uniquely human. Insects, birds, reptiles, and other mammals receive visual data and process and interpret it differently than we do.
Each film stock or camera sensor will process light and shadow differently. The digital processor in a Fuji X-Trans digital camera will not capture and process the light the same way as the sensor in a Nikon Z digital camera. Choosing which film stock to use is a form of processing. A scene captured with Fuji Velvia will not appear the same when captured with Kodak Ektachrome E100. Digital scanners introduce even more processing when a film is developed and scanned. Why is it that when a photographer crops, straightens, colour corrects or darkens parts of an image (a.k.a dodge and burn), it is suddenly not considered "true to life", not real photography?
For a while, I have let this way of thinking infect my mind and ruin my experiences with 35mm film photography. With digital photography, I had let go of it. But this virus re-infected my mind over the last few years of reading various film photography blogs. I won't do this anymore.
When I see 35mm film grain that I do not like, I will remove it using my digital tools. I have inner ear balance issues. My photographs tend to tilt to the left. I will use horizontal correction when I need it. If I need to adjust the shadows and the highlights to make the photograph look better, I will do it. I am 55, and I have had four eye surgeries. My vision is not the best. There are dead spots in my vision and some colours each eye perceives colours differently. I will use whatever digital tools I need to create the world as I see it.
I started making photographs to make me happy and to capture my perspective. If I continue to be a hostage to others' perspectives and opinions on photography, I will not be happy.
I am disappointed by the results I get when using 35mm colour film stock for portraiture.
I am disappointed by the results when using 35mm colour film stock for portraiture. The conventional wisdom around the Interweb is that Kodak Portra 35mm film delivers spectacular skin tones with exceptional colour saturation over a wide range of lighting conditions. However, when photographing darker skin tones, my experience with Kodak Porta 160 and Kodak Portra 400 falls short of my expectations. From what I read, the later update that improved the rendering of dark skin tones from Kodak's colour films wasn't necessarily a consideration for properly photographing darker skin tones but rather the by-product of solving an advertising problem - the proper colour rendering of dark wood and milk chocolate.
While looking at and adjusting the tone curve of scans from the roll of Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow that I exposed in September on the streets of Sandusky, I realised that for 35mm film portraiture. I prefer the results from black-and-white films. I've captured Bhavna's portrait on Ilford HP5 Plus 400, Eastman Kodak Double-X 5222 400 and Kosmo Foto Agent Shadow. The results have been to my liking due to the forgiving exposure latitude of these 35mm film stocks.
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